OYSTERSOYSTERSBy: Randolyn RobertsBy: Randolyn Roberts

Per.4Per.4

Did you know?

• The best time to eat an oyster is when it is cold , around the first of November to the first of May.

• Most of the time oysters on the Pacific coast taste brinier than those on the east coast.

• Traditionalists like their oysters raw and naked. Meaning fresh from the chill bed unseasoned and unwatered.

The art of eating an oyster:

• Plucking an icy cold and brightly glistening oyster from a plate, first savor the chill and roughness of the shell in your hands. ''Taste it with your finger-tips,'' says Seattle oyster maven Jon Rowley.

Next step…..

• Finally, he tips the oyster into his mouth, meat and juices together, carefully chewing the whole. On the tongue, an initial note of sweetness quickly yields to a subtle brininess and mineral qualities.

The Science part of it...

• Oysters are in the class bivalvia (pelecypods) because they have two shells and they are called valves.

• Most bivalves are raised commercially by farmers who grow them & sell them.

• The 2 shells are opened and closed by the adductor muscles.

• Oysters attach themselves to the bottom of the ocean floor, and grow there until they are harvested.

Other types of mollusks…

• Clams• scallops• squids and octopus• snails